The Protection Scheme
by Louis
Summary: Miliardo Peacecraft has gone by many names in his life, and after and assassin makes an attempt on his life, he will go by one more.
1. Default Chapter

A few things first. For starters I admit to having only watched a few episodes of GW, so if I get a few things wrong I'm sorry. Second, this peice doesn't actually fit anywhere into the actual story line, Zechs and Noin I guess their in some sort of military faction, couldn't tell you which one, just take it in stride please. Second, this is only my second fic, so please review…please…please…please.  
  
One thought echoed strong in the head of Miliardo Peacecraft, aka Zechs Marquise, aka Wind, aka the Lightning Count, aka any number of other things not so well known, as he sat, watching the festivities of the first day of his 'protection program' and that one thought was "I should have taken my chances with the assassin."  
  
*****  
Three days previous:  
  
"Well sir, all we can say is that this guy is good." Millardo listened with half an ear while a young soldier brought him up to speed about the earlier attempt on his life. "He's actually been following you for quite some time, this is just the closest he's ever gotten. We've always managed to stop him before he got too close."  
  
"So you knew he was following me for 'quite some time'?" The soldier swallowed nervously.  
  
Gulp. "Yes sir."  
  
"Define 'quite some time' for me, will you?" All of this was said with a surprisingly mellow voice, given the circumstances. This only made the soldier more nervous, he knew all two well the type. They didn't bark much, but they had one hell of a bite. This was usually the case with Milliardo Peacecraft, as was the name he was currently sporting, but in this particular circumstance Milliardo was as mellow as a kitten. The would-be assassin had missed his mark by a couple of inches, nailing him a good one in the shoulder. That had been two days ago, and for the moment Milliardo Peacecraft was higher than Epyon had ever taken him, thanks to extra strength painkillers and a few other wonder-drugs. He just hid his intoxication surprisingly well, hence the soldiers' nervousness.  
  
"Well, sir, uh, about four months. But, we were sure we had gotten rid of him two months ago, he just showed up again." The soldier took a deep breath, stood up strait, and prepared for the onslaught.  
  
"Oh," said the drugged noble. He had already lost quite a bit of interest in this conversation as he had just noticed how splendidly red his robe was. He watched with avid interest as when he turned his arm, the light reflected off the fabric in different patterns. It was by far one of the most incredible things he had ever seen in his life…second only to that flashlight he'd found a few hours ago. Speaking of that, where was it?   
  
He started to rummage around in his robe and around his seat making the soldier suck in air out of fear. The sound caught Milliardo's attention, and he looked up quickly, surprised to see the soldier there. "Who is he?" he asked himself of the soldier.  
  
"Nobody knows his identity sir, but he's well trained and good with technology." The soldier answered, thinking he was asking about the assassin.  
  
"Oh, okay." Miliardo went back to rummaging, though he had already forgot what he was looking for, so he turned his attention back to the soldier.  
  
"Um, Captain Orson has come up with some counter measures, I'll just page him real quick and he can explain them to you." The soldier quickly reached into a pocket, pulled out a device, punched in a few numbers and slid it back into his pocket. He then stood at uncomfortable attention as he waited for the Captain. Not a word passed between the two of them and Milliardo continued to stare at the young soldier, in what the younger thought was a death-gaze, but was actually absolute fascination in the shiny buttons on his shirt.  
  
A short time later Caption Orson came in followed by Noin. The soldier was dismissed, and the two new arrivals looked with amusement at the Sank Kingdom prince. Milliardo for his part, was staring at Noin. "Lucrecia," he said.   
  
"Yes?" She was surprised to hear him use her first name.  
  
"Lucrecia, you're hair…its so…deep. Like, I could fall into it and never stop falling, its like space…wow."  
  
"Umm, thank you Ze- ur, Milliardo." She looked over to the Captain who was stifling a laugh as Noin now found herself batting away Miliardo's hands as he reached out to touch her hair. Had they been alone, she probably wouldn't have been so anxious to keep him off, but given the Captains presence, it was better she kept an air of annoyance.  
  
"Ah, still good and drugged, are we Milliardo?" Said the captain. "Perfect. Anyway, Noin and I here to tell you about the counter measure we've come up with. Actually we came up with quite a few, but everybody agreed on this one."  
  
Now it was Noin's turn to stifle a laugh, yes, admittedly she had been one of the strong supporters of this plan. Milliardo didn't notice her laugh, he was trying to decide whether or not he out to tell the Captain about the little tiny man crawling around on his head, which on closer examination, Milliardo realized it was actually a little tiny Heero, Spandex and all. Wow.  
  
The Captain continued. "What we have come up with, is a protection plan that hides you away where the assassin would never think to look, while we search for him." Miliardo nodded, but mostly because the little Heero was about to start ripping out the already balding Captain's hair, and had looked to Milliardo for permission to do so.   
  
"Anyway, we have decided the key place to send you, where you would be completely safe, it to school."  
  
Miliardo raised an eyebrow. "Military school?"   
  
"Uh, no, we were thinking more high school."  
  
"Cool." Noin believed she had never heard that word come out of that mans mouth before in her life  
  
"So we've picked the perfect school for you to go, it's a small privet school near the coast, called Northern Academy. You would enroll as a normal student, take classes, and not even the teachers would know your true identity."  
  
"Cool," Milliardo repeated.  
  
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. We just have some papers for you to sign that say when you're off the drugs and you have realized what you've gotten yourself into, you can't bail out." Noin handed him a few pieces of paper and a pen, and had to back away quickly as he had attempted to get her hair again, only this time it was for a different reason, because a little tiny Duo was crawling around on her head, and somehow he just didn't like the idea of Duo in Noin's hair. He was relieved to see, that, out of fear or whatever, the little Duo had jumped from her head to the Captain's, and now he and Heero, were, umm, well…surely they weren't doing THAT, but, by the looks of it…. He figured he out to give them some privacy and looked down at the papers he was now holding. He saw the line that said signature and signed, then handed it back to the Captain, relieved to see that the two little Gundam pilots had moved on to someplace a little less noticeable.  
  
Had Milliardo been a little more with it, he might have taken time to actually read that contract he'd just signed. He might also have noticed the full name of Northern Academy. 'Northern Academy for Girls'.  
  
And so, in one drug infected afternoon, Miliardo Peacecraft, owner already of countless identities created yet another one. Millie Peace, high school girl.   



	2. 2-Preparations

Thanx for the reviews everybody, don't worry, wasn't offended by any. And thanks also for reading, that's what makes it all worth while *big cheesy grin*  
  
The following day it was decided that Milliardo's gunshot shoulder had healed enough that he could be taken off the painkillers. He remembered very little of the days before while on the drugs, and the whole company got to draw straws to tell him what he had gotten himself into. On unlucky clerk, got the task. It took it with quite a bit of bravery, however, and his friends promised to have 'died like a man' engraved on his tombstone.  
  
As expected, the lightening count was furious, the shouts could be heard on the other side of the compound. The young clerk would someday tell the tale to his children.  
*****  
  
"I refuse," Miliardo growled dangerously. He had finally tracked down Captain Orson who was apparently in charge of this whole crazy scheme, and was now putting his foot down. "I'd rather be shot."  
  
"You were shot," the captain said calmly. Motioning towards his shoulder. "And I'm afraid we can't risk it again."  
  
"Captain, forgive me for sounding arrogant, but I do have a knack for staying alive."  
  
"Oh come now Milliard, just because you survived one unsurvivable explosion, which, by the way, I'm still waiting to hear the story on how you managed that, does not make you indestructible."  
  
"So what does it make me."  
  
"Lucky. And luck is nothing you can count on twice. I'm sorry dear boy, but you're stuck in this, you signed a contract."  
  
"And if I refuse?"  
  
"You can't refuse, it's a contract. Surely you're a man of your word."  
  
"I wasn't lucid when I signed it, it doesn't count!" Miliardo was almost shouting at this point.  
  
"Oh, but I'm afraid I must be a bit dishonest at this point, and understand its for your own good, and dispute you on that. I have a witness who will say you were completely of sound mind." Milliardo desperately wished he could remember who had been in the room with the captain and kill whoever it was. No more witness. "Oh don't worry, it'll only be for a short time, and nobody will ever know."  
  
"I'll know, and that's enough."  
  
"Milliardo, I'm going to tell you something my first wife told me-'there are plenty of great men, but the greatest of them are women'."  
  
Milliardo thought Wu-Fei might be willing to argue that point. "Why am I not convinced. It wouldn't work, do I look like a girl to you?"  
  
"Well, true you're a bit taller and, uh, buffer than the average girl, but you could blame that and your deep voice on a hormone imbalance, you know, too much testosterone in your system or something. But I gotta tell you something, those long silky platinum locks don't exactly go against our plan, if you know what I mean."   
  
He wanted to argue, but deep down inside, he knew he had been backed into a corner, and the captain knew it too. Damn he should have gotten a normal haircut. For a long moment they just stared at each other. "You tell me the second you catch the bastard."  
  
The captain smiled. "Of course."  
  
Milliardo started to leave the room, but then paused. "You know, I wouldn't need an assassin to kill you."  
  
The captain only smiled. "I'm thinking a nice pink ribbon and knee socks for your first day, what do you think…Millie?" The captain would never know how close he came to death at that point, though he would sport the black eye almost a week.  
  
That night, before going to bed, Milliardo fixed himself a VERY strong drink, and had a toast to the end of his manhood as he knew it.  
*****  
  
The following day was spent on a makeover, during which Milliardo got waxed, primped, polished, measured, and manicured. There was some argument on how he ought to where his hair. Captain Orson, still bitter about the black eye, suggested up in pink ribbons, and got a shiner for his suggestion. Noin thought a French braid, and the hair stylist thought maybe a ponytail. Ultimately it was decided down with a headband. A talented designer, in that one day, made for him an array of skirts, dresses, pants, shirts and shoes all designed to make him a little more feminine looking. He had to have walking lessons (in high heels), and be coached on how to think like a girl. He was also given a quick lesson on how to apply makeup, and Milliardo found himself to be quite talented in picking out his own natural colors.   
  
And on more than one occasion, he wished he were still on drugs and this were all one elaborate hallucination. But all in all, hallucination or not, he still found himself, wearing a casual blue dress, walking into the Northern Academy great hall for registration day.  



End file.
